Such Sweet Autonomy
by Louciferish
Summary: Steve/Tony - It's Steve and Tony's anniversary, and Tony has a surprise waiting down in the lab. Steve is less than thrilled.


Steve had been putting off going down to Tony's workshop for hours. He knew the other man had been locking himself in there late into the night for months, and he knew what was probably in there: his anniversary gift. He was dreading it.

Tony was terrible at gifts. He tried to give Steve things all the time, random things, things that someone else liked but which Tony thought were Steve's favorites, and things that Steve would never have gotten himself even if he had the money. But when a birthday or an anniversary came up? Tony usually forgot the day completely.

The thing was, Steve had known about that going in, and it didn't bother him. Tony was a challenge, and every day Steve spent with him was an achievement. A special day once a year to celebrate that was wholly unnecessary.

This year, though, Tony had been planning something. Normally incapable of shutting up about whatever new toy was on the slab downstairs, he'd been conspicuously silent about what he was doing. Steve was kind of hoping it was just improvements to his costume or something, something practical, something that wouldn't make him hurt Tony's feelings if he didn't love it.

For the first time in a long time, the door to the workshop sprung open immediately under his fingertips, and he stepped in with a deep breath.

Tony looked good, leaning over the workbench in a pair of old jeans. He wasn't sweaty like he'd been welding, or smudged with grease like he'd been building Steve a new bike. Then Steve cleared his throat lightly and Tony stepped away from the bench.

The girl on the workbench looked tiny, but Steve had never been very good at guessing children's ages. She was staring through Steve, her big blue eyes empty, and her little feet kicked absently against the side of the table. Her hair was dark blond, and short but messy. All of that Steve noticed secondarily.

The first thing he noticed was the familiar blue glow coming through her "Daddy's Little Princess" shirt.

"Tony," he said. "What on earth is-"

"Surprise," Tony said, grinning. "Happy anniversary!"

"You... got me a girl?"

"No," Tony said. "I made you a daughter."

"Tony-"

"I heard you," he interrupted, rushing to get everything out in one long breath. "You know, talking to Pepper a few months ago about thinking, thinking you'd have a family someday, and I thought, we probably wouldn't have much luck adopting, you know, with our lives? Also I'm not really a baby person, I mean, they don't really talk or do anything and, well, they just don't like me much to be honest so I thought-"

"You thought I wanted you to build a little girl," Steve asked, loudly. "Tony, that's- That's crazy! I wasn't asking for a doll to play with or some, some robot stuck perpetually on-" Tony's eyes were getting bigger, wetter, and suddenly Steve froze, looking over at the empty-faced little girl still sitting there. "Can she... God, Tony, can she hear me?"

"No," Tony said, outrage clear in his tone. "Of course not! She hasn't been activated yet; she's in sleep mode while I make final adjustments."

"Adjustments?"

"Personality," Tony said, gesturing to the girl's face. "Learning capabilities, language banks, memory, all of that. I've got it all planned out Steve! She's about, oh, three right now relative to human ages, but she'll have upgrades, she'll age. She's almost completely a blank slate, just like a toddler, and her language acquisition will begin when she activates. She'll learn from us, and adapt to us." He suddenly turned around and pulled up a file on the touchscreen, flipping through diagram after diagram of human bodies, zipping along to finally land on a figure of a young woman, the shape of her body strangely familiar.

"Her final physical upgrade is based off Pepper," Tony said, noticing Steve's interest. I thought if we wanted to, we could maybe tell the press, well... we'll get to that."

Still staring at the girl's small, perfectly formed face, Steve stepped toward her. "So she's based off Pepper and what, me?"

"Mostly you," Tony interrupted. " A little me, too, I mean... she's ours, and she could take over Stark Industries one day, if she wanted to so I made her- she's bright. Not that I could make a stupid A.I., really, but she's going to have a way with machinery for sure. But morally, she's loyal, she's devoted, she'll believe in something bigger than herself, just like you."

"And you," Steve said. "Tony, this is... you're brilliant. This is brilliant, but I don't want-" Tony's face fell, and Steve faltered, lowered his voice. "I don't want you to do this unless you want to Tony, unless you want to with me. This is a little girl, Tony, right? That's the idea? And I don't want you to turn her on, not if you aren't serious about this, if this isn't forever-"

"As long as we live," Tony said, grabbing Steve's hand. "As long as she lives, which will be as long as she wants it to be with the new reactor technology."

"That's right," Steve said, reaching out to run his hand through her messy hair. "She looks like me, a bit, but," his hand ran down her cheek, her still throat, and stopped at her chest. "She has your heart."

Tony grinned, wide and clear. "Is this a yes? Steve? Do you like her?"

"How could I not?" Steve whispered, leaning down to rest his forehead against Tony's.

"Well then, I hope you remember how to sing 'Happy birthday'."


End file.
